Matilda's Delhi debut

Ever thought how exciting it would be to witness your childhood favourite persona on stage, in the very Capital just before Christmas? There is a good news for all Roald Dahl fans as his famous novel 'Matilda' has been adapted into a play by the KidsWorld Theatre Group duo Bubbles Sabharwal and Lushin Dubey with performances on till Sunday at DLF Promenade.

Talking about the play titled 'Oye Matilda! Tu hai Ustad!' co-director Bubbles Sabharwal said, "Our play is contemporary, and would connect well with the Delhi audience as in the play, Matilda's family lives in West Delhi. While Mr Fernandez is a 'jugadu' guy, Mrs Fernandez is a materialistic consumer freak, and their son, Matilda's brother is a phone freak. We have also written the play in Hinglish, just the way delhiites speak now. We've also composed a one-of-a-kind song, 'Arre main hu ustad' which is sung by the father, entirely based on the Hinglish dialect spoken these days. Our musician Laura Santana has done the music composition."

"It took us five-six weeks to prepare the play. These children come to us for a workshop, and now they are getting an opportunity to portray their skills at DLF. They've learnt teamwork, projection, working with props... all these lessons integrated together produces the play entirely," informed Bubbles Sabharwal.

When asked about the challenges Lushin and she had faced while working with children, Bubbles remarked, "I have been working with children for about 27 years, and noticed that people do not take children seriously. But over the years, now the situation has improved. We've been lucky to have good sponsors with God's grace. Mothers would usually get their children for workshops as part of holiday activities, without knowing how it leads to personality enhancement, as over the years, a lot of life skills are learnt on stage. The first challenge is finding a sponsor, someone who beliefs in the cause of children. Children are like life insurance, you know you invested right when you open up the policy 20 years later. Similarly, theatre gives children a tremendous amount of confidence in dealing with people. The other challenge is to make the parents realise that if they allow the children two hours per day for five days a week, it is time well spent."

The duo is expecting a family audience for the show, with very little options of family entertainment available these days. Matilda is a novel by prominent British storyteller Roald Dahl, that tells the tale of a genius little girl who is utterly ignored by her family. Some other famous works of Roald Dahl are 'The Twits', 'The Witches', 'The BFG', and 'Charlie and the chocolate factory', most of which have been adapted into films. Drop by with your little ones towards the end of the week to experience the awe in magic, as you watch children unfold the tale of Delhi's Matilda.